ENTREPRENEUR Media, pub lisher of Entrepreneur magazine, is on the block for $200 million, as longtime owner Peter Shea finally appears to be ready to cash out.

Yesterday, Entrepreneur President and Chief Operating Officer Neil Perlman in a memo to staffers acknowledged that the company is exploring strategic options, which might include an infusion of cash or a sale.

In reality, Entrepreneur has already conducted a first-round auction, staged by DeSilva & Phillips, and sources say they expect to go to a second round.

Among those said to be in the hunt is Elevation Partners, the private-equity firm run by U2 front man Bono and Roger McNamee.

Elevation is no stranger to publishing, having paid $300 million for a 40 percent stake in Forbes Media LLC in August 2007, and has a history of targeting companies it believes have a strong Web upside.

Its interest in Forbes was believed to have been fueled largely by the success of Forbes.com. It also took a look at some of the Time Inc. titles that Time Warner wound up selling last year to Bonnier Publications for $220 million.

Elevation was said to be interested in the Parenting and Baby Talk titles, because it felt young moms are Web savvy and are abandoning traditional print outlets.

Irvine, Calif.-based Entrepreneur also has a sizable Web operation, and sells many of its entrepreneurial kits, such as How to Start a Restaurant or How to Start a Flower Shop, online.

Veronis Suhler Stevenson is also said to have also looked at Entrepreneur.

Shea based his valuation on the $200 million that Inc. received when it was sold to Gruner + Jahr USA in 2000. Of course, Inc. and Fast Company, which G+J purchased for $365 million, were later sold for a combined $35 million to Morningstar founder Joe Mansueto.

Mansueto Media is said also to have looked at Entrepreneur, but it is unclear if it will participate in the second round.

Departing

Deidre Depke, editor of newsweek.com, is the latest name to emerge as part of the 111 at Newsweek who have opted to take a buyout. Her last day is April 30.

Depke played a big role in the sweeping redesign of the Web site that was unveiled last October, when the magazine also received a tweaking that cut the number of photos in favor of more copy.

“I’m leaving as editor of newsweek.com, after eight great years in the job and 12 at Newsweek,” Depke said. “The buyout was too generous to resist.”

She said she has nothing lined up at the moment.

“I’m off for the summer, thinking about the next challenge,” she said.

For the girls

Carly Simon was among the party-goers who turned up at Sheila Weller‘s book party at the Waverly Inn in Greenwich Village Monday night for “Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon – and the Journey of a Generation.”

The bash was tossed by Cindi Leive, the Glamour editor-in-chief, and Vanity Fair Editor Graydon Carter, who also happens to own the exclusive Village pub.

Weller is a contributor to both magazines.

At the party, Kurt Andersen urged his old Spy-mate Carter not to turn down the 1970s era music that was playing in the back ground. He also revealed he was off on his first Vanity Fair assignment.

“I’m going to China in about a week or two to do a story on architecture,” he said.

Andersen chatted with Sara Nelson, editor-in-chief of Publishers Weekly, who had been chatting with Real Simple Editor-in-Chief Kristin van Ogtrop – a mother of three who was enjoying a rare night out on the town.

Andersen and Carter, who together co-founded the now-defunct Spy magazine, were reunited last year when Andersen signed on as a contributing editor of VF. However, Andersen hasn’t actually written anything yet.

“I don’t feel like I’m accepting his money and not doing anything,” Andersen said. “I don’t get paid until I write something.”

Other attendees included David Zinczenko, editor-in-chief of Men’s Health and newly crowned editor of the year from Adweek, who appeared on the scene with an Armani executive.

Freelance writer and editor Kevin Haynes recalled how he had had a record album autographed by Simon back in the days when album covers were big enough to write a phrase or two.

Joe Armstrong, former president of New York magazine and longtime friend of Simon, was flattered to know he received mention in the book.

Dim lights

Other than for People and Larry Hackett, its managing editor, the start of the year has not been a bright one for the editors of celebrity magazines.

People is up 5 percent year to date, averaging 1.5 million copies on newsstands for the two-month period ended in February, which the Audit Bureau of Circulations is expected to reveal today when it releases its Rapid Report, which is designed to let advertisers know how issues of magazines are selling in a more timely fashion than the semi-annual FAS-FAX reports.

People’s biggest seller was the issue featuring Heath Ledger on the cover in January. That issue sold 1.8 million copies.

People’s late deadline on Tuesday enabled it to be on the only celebrity weekly with Ledger on the cover. The following week, when the competition finally caught up with the story, People sold another 1.5 million with another Ledger cover.

Its Christina Aguilera cover of her and her newborn actually sold better than the early estimates suggested, coming in at 1.45 million copies on newsstands. Early estimates pegged newsstand sales at 1.3 million, barely above the magazine’s average – which, given People paid a big seven-figure sum for the pictures – could have been an embarrassment for the magazine.

The other big baby pictures of recent weeks in which People shelled out big bucks – Nicole Ritchie‘s daughter and Jennifer Lopez‘s twins – won’t clock in until the numbers from March are revealed by ABC next month.

The early estimates have Lopez’s babies enticing 1.9 million readers to buy People that week.

Us Weekly’s Editor Janice Min has looked a little rattled in the early part of the year.

Two of the four issues missed the rate base – which is the amount of circulation from single-copy sales and subscribers that the magazine’s publisher tells advertisers it will deliver each month.

The magazine expected its circulation gains to continue, since it upped its rate base to 1.9 million at the start of the year. However, two of the four issues covered in the Rapid Report missed that mark. When the magazine does finally catch up to the February numbers, it is expected to show another bumpy month.

An Us spokesman declined to comment.

OK! magazine showed that its Jamie Lynn Spears cover was a big seller, with 1.125 million copies sold, which contributed to overall sales when added to subscriptions of over 1.5 million a month.

But that was its only bright spot. The magazine raised it rate base to 900,000 but in six of the seven issues covered in the period it missed that number.

Publisher Tom Morrissey insists that newsstand circulation is still rising compared with a year ago, and that by the time the final numbers are delivered, the average sale will be OK.

“We were averaging 886,000 per issue, which is a minimal 1.5 percent off,” he said, adding that he expects to make up the shortfall with strong sales in March.

Bauer Publishing titles – which were forced to raise their news stand prices to $2.99 under pressure from whole salers – are still reeling, eventhough both magazines lowered the amount of circulation that they promised to deliver.

Newsstand sales for In Touch are down 26 percent year to date and the title missed the new lower rate base of 1 million copies three times in the Rapid Report.

Life & Style fell 21 percent at newsstands and missed its rate base four times.

“You’ll always have some up and down week to week, but on average, we have delivered the rate base over the two month period,” said Ian Scott, president of Bauer’s ad sales operation.